Wushu Black Belt Edition

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ushu

The Ancient Art of Action Roleplaying

Black Belt Edition

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Part One - Harmonious Conflict

● Playing the Game, 4

● High-Flying Heroes, 26

● Running the Show, 41

Part Two - Glorious Mayhem

● Guide to Cut-Fu, 62

● Guide to Gun-Fu, 85

● Guide to Car-Fu, 111

● Guide to Wyrd-Fu, 135

Part Three - Terrible Vistas● Clockwork Wuxia, 161

● Purgatory, 170

● Celestial, 180

Written by Daniel Bayn

Illustrated by Levi Kornelsen

Playtesters:

● Mark DiPasquale,

● Colleen Reilly,

● Jeremy Keller,

● Lauren DeSteno,

● Luke Jordan

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Wushu is a roleplaying game where groups of friends sit safely on

their asses and tell each other a shared story of high-flying,

hyper-stylized action. The emphasis is always on entertainment;

this isn't a game where smart tactics and careful resourcemanagement lead to clearly-defined victories. It's more like improv

theater or a radio play or a drunken bullshit session. The only way

to win is to make sure everyone has a good time.

Roger Price (Wikimedia)

This omnibus edition includes new and improved core rules,

expanded advice for Directors, and three sample settings for

zero-prep play. It also compiles the four Wushu Guides, whichprovide voluminous examples of play for everything from car

chases to ritual magic.

http://DanielBayn.com/wushu 3


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Playing

the Game

Since you’re reading this, chances are good you’ll be the one

running the game. (Good on ya!) That means you’ll be the facilitatorand referee, as well as a player. You’ll be responsible for the

setting and every supporting character, from helpful allies to epic

villains. There’s advice just for you under Running the Show, but

first we need to cover the basics. These are the core rules that

you and your players need to know.

For the most part, your Wushu sessions will play out like this...

You: Ninjas fall from the sky like rain. They create a ring of swords,

chains, staves, ginsu knives, green clovers, and purple

horseshoes all around you.

Lauren: "I crack my knuckles, curl my fingers into kung-fu fists, and

trace a line in front of me with one foot, daring them to cross."

Jeremy: "I throw my arms open wide and an automatic pistol pops

into each hand from spring-loaded holsters up my sleeves. I hold

the triggers down, spin down onto one knee, and spray them with

lead!"

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In short: a bunch of creative types with violent tendencies trying to

one-up each other with quick bursts of action movie imagery.

Photo Credit: Steve Collis (Wikimedia)

Within the imagined world of your shared narrative, everything the players describe happens exactly how they describe it , when they

describe it. This is called "the Principle of Narrative Truth" and it’s

the nitrous that makes Wushu fast and furious. Actions should

always be phrased in the present tense: "I kick him," "I fly over

that," "They crash through the wall like wrecking balls." No need to

wait for the dice to tell you what happens.

However, that doesn’t mean the players always get what they

want. It’s your job to place obstacles in their path. Some of these

obstacles will be represented by piles of poker chips. Others will be

characters under your control. To overcome either, your players

will need dice. Dice are earned by narrating details and rolled

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(look it up), but you won’t have to worry about that. Just swipe

some dice from the Parker Brothers and you’re ready to go.

Dice for Details

You’d be surprised how many things can count as a detail: fight

choreography, car stunts, one-liners, special effects, camera

movements, internal monologue, tactical maneuvers, techno-

babble, hocus pocus... anything that’s appropriate to your story.

It’s up to the rest of your group to let you know if you’ve strayed

too far from the desired tone or genre. If they don’t like what they

hear, try something else. I refer you to Rule Zero: Don’t Be a Dick.

Each detail earns you 1 die. More dice = more control over the

next round of the narrative. For example, I would give Jeremy 3

dice for the narration above: 1 for the props (spring-loaded sleeveholsters) and 2 for the stunts (quick-drawing the guns, then

shooting in a circle).

A generous Director might divide it up even more...

1. I throw my arms open wide

2. and an automatic pistol pops into each hand from

3. spring-loaded holsters up my sleeves.4. I hold the triggers down,

5. and spray them with lead!

Your best bet is probably somewhere in between.

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Photo Credit: Ashcoounter (Wikimedia)

Dice Pools

For each scene, the Director will set a max number of dice per

player per round, usually 4–10. (I default to 5 or 6.) This is called

the dice pool Limit. Smaller limits encourage shorter, punchier

rounds of narration and give players more chances to alter their

dice rolling strategies. Higher limits allow for longer, more elaborate

bouts, but fortunes can change drastically from one round to the

next.

Once everyone has reached the limit, or is just happy with howmany dice they’ve earned, you all roll at once. (You may have to

split your dice into offensive and defensive sets, see below.)

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Scoring Hits

Each character will have a number of Traits, each rated from 1–5.

Compare the result of each die roll to your character’s most

relevant Trait, discarding any dice that roll over that number. (If you

don’t have a relevant Trait, the default is 2.) The remaining dice

are your hits. How hitting things works (i.e. well) is explained

below. If there’s no opposition, you only need one hit to secure

victory.

When there is opposition, your conflicts will flow through three

phases. First, a round of narration sets the stage. Then, dice arerolled and hits are scored. Repeat until victory is achieved or

denied, then the victor(s) get to narrate their success.

Why use dice at all?!

Dice are far less powerful in Wushu than they are in other

roleplaying games, but they still serve an important purpose: They

provide a mechanical benefit for thrilling stunts and cinematic

flourishes. They give players a reason to describe how the force of

a punch ripples across a mook’s face in slow motion or how the

"camera" follows a bullet as it streaks across a crowded nightclub.

Rolling dice also injects a certain amount of chaos into the

narrative. It’s never enough to derail the story, but just enough to

keep conflicts interesting.

The first round of a conflict is always freeform. The goals for this

round are simple: determine who’s in the conflict and what they’re

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trying to do. In the example above, you introduced a bunch of

ninjas and the players described their reactions (i.e. fighting, as

opposed to running for cover or trying to talk their way out).

Depending on how much effort you want to put into this scene,

you’ll create a threat and/or a nemesis (or several nemeses).

Threats are things that stand between the players and their goals:

mooks (see below), time bombs, burning buildings, security

systems, stubborn witnesses, polite conversation, anything. Place

a stack of poker chips (or some other counter) on the table to

represent each threat. This is the number of hits the group needsto score before they can narrate victory.

Mooks are a special kind of threat. They’re those nameless,

faceless goons that infest all action movies: ninjas, robots,

gangsters, trolls, soldiers, cops, thugs, whatever. Mowing them

down by the dozens, if not hundreds, is a proud wire-fu tradition.

Players are free to describe however many mooks they want,

wherever they want, in order to describe all the rapid-fire asskicking they want.

All threats are assumed to score 1 hit per round on any heroes

within their reach. (If a hero is off fighting a Nemesis while their

friends handle the mooks, you should probably give them a free

pass.) This means that the players will always have to worry, at

least a little bitty bit, about defense.

Nemeses are, quite simply, your villains. When you want to roll up

your sleeves and bloody your narrative knuckles, put opposition

characters into the fight. There’s no telling how many hits it will

take to defeat a nemesis, since they earn and roll dice just like the

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players. They have traits and chi (see below), just like the heroes.

When fighting a nemesis, whoever takes a hit first loses.

Once all the pieces are in play, everyone narrates themselves

their first dice pool (as described above). Then, you let ‘em roll!

Photo Credit: Gisling (Wikimedia)

Rolling the Dice

Depending on the circumstances, you may need to split your dice

into various pools before you roll. Most of the time, you only have

to worry about offense and defense, but complex conflicts may

involve multiple threats. Your table should be adorned with at least

two colors of dice...

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Yang dice are directed against your enemies. They take points off

a threat or put nemeses in their place. Sometimes, you may need

to split your Yang dice between multiple goals.

Yin dice are for self-defense. One is all you need to take care of

the automatic hit from a Threat. A nemesis, on the other hand,

might hit you many times in one round. It takes 1 Yin to block 1

Yang.

You score a hit for each die that rolls below, or equal to, your

character’s most relevant trait. Notice that “hits” can be both

offensive and defensive; they can happen in combat and out ofcombat. Hits tell you who’s winning, no matter the game.

As soon as you take a hit, your opponent gets to narrate their coup

de grace. Yin dice are your first line of defense, but all heroes can

fall back on their Chi in times of trouble. At the beginning of each

scene (or whenever you feel like allowing it), each player gets 3

Chi tokens. Nemeses can have anywhere from 0–5 Chi, depending

on how tough you wanna make ‘em. One chi can be cashed in for 1Yin success after the dice are rolled.

You’re not out of the fight until you take a hit and can’t pay for it.

Being at zero Chi means you’re brushing plaque from the jaws of

defeat, but you're not out of the fight yet.

Continuing our example, Lauren’s hero has a trait called “Curiously

Strong Chi 4.” She goes on the offensive with 5 Yang dice and 1Yin. She rolls 1,1,1,3,4 (Yang) and 4 (Yin). Those all count as hits,

because none of them exceed 4, her trait rating. That means 5 hits

on the mooks and 1 hit to defend herself.

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Jeremy’s hero has a Trait called “Ballet of Bullets 4.” He rolls 4

Yang dice and gets 2,4,5,5. Only the 2 and 4 count as hits, so two

more points come off the threat. His 2 Yin dice are boxcars: 6,6.

Both exceed his Trait rating, so he gets no defensive successesand will have to cash in one point of Chi.

Remember, everything happens as you describe it, when you

describe it. Dice are rolled afterward and they only tell you what

should happen next…

Photo Credit: Francisco Diez (Wikimedia)

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shuriken in the chest. Finally, I kick him into the shuriken-thrower,

crushing them together like a jagged metal Oreo."

Jeremy wasn’t so lucky. He got a couple of offensive (Yang) hits,

but not a single defensive (Yin) hit. He has to cash in 1 of his Chi

to counter the mooks’ one automatic hit. Next round...

Jeremy: "My gunfire decimates the first wave, but more appear out

of the shadows. Two of them catch my arms in their chain

weapons, so I can’t reload. Their friends close in with knives. I

parry their attacks with a few well-timed kicks, then lock my feet

around one ninja’s neck and hurl him into a chain-wielder. I reload with my free hand and shoot the other chain-wielder in the face."

If a hero and a Nemesis score hits on each other in the same

round, hits that neither of them can block with Yin or Chi, then

whoever takes the most hits loses. If they tie, victory goes to the

player. So remember: If you really want that coup de grace,

consider throwing all your dice Yang and hope you kill them deader

than they kill you.

Advanced Techniques

The Pass — Improvising beautiful violence is hard work. One way

to help each other out when exhaustion sets in is to narrate things

that the other players can incorporate into their descriptions. Say Ithrow a mook across the room; rather than send him through some

furniture, I could leave him hanging in mid-air and pass to the next

player. They might have him collide with the mook they’re fighting,

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drop his weapon in their hand as he sails past, crash into a lantern

and set the room on fire, etc.

The Filibuster — It’s not just for Senators anymore. If you don’t

feel like counting out your dice, or just want to show off, feel free to

narrate a carnival of carnage so elaborate that it more than

justifies the maximum dice pool. Of course, the other players are

well within their rights to cut you off at any time, but they’ll let you

keep going as long as you keep them entertained.

The only thing you cannot narrate is victory, not until you’ve

earned it. After someone scores that fateful hit, or lops off that last

point of threat, their following round of description is called a coup

de grace. You won’t earn any dice, because you won’t need any.

Victors are entitled to narrate their spoils.

Of course, Rule Zero still applies, so don’t be a dick about it.

Directors shouldn’t execute heroes and players shouldn’t humiliateNemeses. Try to stay focused on the stakes you set way back in

the beginning of the conflict. If you get greedy, someone will let you

know.

After two rounds of conflict, our example players have wiped out

the ninja Threat. They collaborate on their coup de grace...

Jeremy: "I slide between a ninja’s legs, pop up behind him, and usehim as a meat shield while I ventilate his remaining friends."

Lauren: "With his last breath, the meat shield pulls a poison dart

from his black pajamas and tries to stab my partner in the face, so

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I grab a kama off a corpse and throw it, severing the bastard’s arm

at the elbow."

Jeremy: "I look down at the dart in his still-twitching hand, scowl,

and snap his neck on principle."

Keep in mind that anyone can concede a conflict at any time. What

that means depends on how you set the stakes. If two groups are

trying to kill each other, either side can give up and flee. If some

mooks have outlived their usefulness in a scene, you can call a

retreat or replace them with a nemesis. If the dice aren’t done with

a conflict by the time the players are, too damn bad for the dice.

You’re doing it all wrong!

Traditional roleplaying games have a hard time with wuxia, and

cinematic action in general, because they insist on things like

turn-taking and situational modifiers that cramp a fight

choreographer’s style. Wushu throws those conventions out the

window with glee. Specifically, there are three things Wushu

doesn’t do...

Weapon Damage - A character’s choice of weapon should have

more to do with their personality than tactical advantage. That’s

why Wushu doesn’t have rules for weapon damage. Getting kicked

hard in the chest hurts just as much as getting stabbed in the face,at least mechanically. This frees players to select weapons that

say something interesting about their characters.

Situational Modifiers - Similarly, Wushu is not a game about

smart tactics. Things like taking cover and flanking an opponent

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Julie: "I try to draw my steam-powered sword, but there’s not

enough space in the parlour to get it out of the scabbard, so I

assume Iron Tiger stance and wave the Governor over."

Mark: "Oh, wait! Meanwhile, I’m weaving my way through the

throng while these slave drivers crack their electrified whips

across the bulkhead. One of the laborers swings at me with this

huge wrench and, when I dodge, he knocks a valve loose. Steam

blasts him in the face and the train lurches to a stop."

Julie: "Which causes the Governor to fly off his feet and into my

waiting hands! Or, more to the point, my mechanical tiger claws!"

Photo Credit: Casimiri (Wikimedia)

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You: "Fortunately, the Governor knows precisely where to kick

your elbow joint to temporarily reduce pneumatic pressure in those

claws. He gets smacked, but not shredded."

Julie: "I lean forward and press his face into the glass. Cracks start

to spider out..."

You: "The Governor takes hold of your arm, shifts himself to the

side, and pushes your center of gravity out from under you! All 300

pounds of you crash into the glass. He slaps the floor with one

hand, sending himself spinning like a rolling pin back to his feet as

the glass explodes beneath you!"

Julie: "Lying down, I have enough room to draw my sword! I extend

the blade so it impales the far wall, then drive one foot into the

near wall, suspending myself over empty air."

Mark: "Which is right about the time the engineers compensate for

the broken valve and the train starts accelerating again."

You decide that everyone’s earned at least 6 dice by this point, soit’s time to roll. Here’s how the numbers shake out:

Dice Pools

Mark: 6 Yang

Julie: 5 Yang / 1 Yin

You: 4 Yang / 2 Yin

Relevant TraitMark: "Lets enemies defeat themselves 4"

Julie: "Get revenge on the Governor! 5"

You: "Kung-Fu Science! 4"

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Rolls

Mark: 1,2,4,4,5,6

Julie: 2,2,3,3,6 / 3

You: 2,3,4,4 / 1,6

Hits

Mark: 4 Yang

Julie: 4 Yang / 1 Yin

You: 4 Yang / 1 Yin

Mark’s pretty sure he can take care of these mooks before they

run him out of Chi, so he decided to go all offensive and reduces

the Threat from 6 to 2. He cashes in 1 Chi token to counter the

mooks’ automatic 1 hit per roll, leaving him with 2 Chi in reserve.

Julie is counting on her higher trait rating to carry her through, but

the Governor gets lucky and matches her hit for hit. They both

have to cash in all their Chi (4 hits = 1 Yin + 3 Chi). The next round

will be do or die.You: "The Governor kicks off the wall and plants both fists in your

abdomen, folding you in half so your foot slips its moorings, then he

flies to the safety of the doorway."

Julie: "I collapse my sword blade and bring it under me, pushing

myself up with one, quick jab. The rails devour it, but it’s enough to

get me upright and clinging to the wall. I turn to the Governor and

growl, 'That’s coming out of your salary.'"

Mark: "A dozen laborers lie unconscious or disabled, but there are

dozens more coming. I spot an exhaust pipe above me and flash

back to my childhood. I’m sitting in a cave with some monks.

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Noxious gas seeps in from the mountain’s depth, but the monks are

perfectly calm. I meditate with them, slowing my heart and stilling

my lungs.

"Back in the engine room, I charge one of the slaves, run right up

his chest, steal a wrench out of his hands, and leap onto the upper

catwalk. I smash open the exhaust pipe, then calmly sit down as

thick vapors pour into the room, concealing me and asphyxiating

everyone else."

Julie: "Back in the parlour, I’m leaping around the edges of the

room, tearing down every piece of art and ornamentation that looksexpensive. They rain down into the tracks, following my trusty

sword into oblivion."

Photo Credit: chensiyuan (Wikimedia)

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You: "Oh, that’ll piss him off. The Governor waits until you’re in the

middle of a jump, then runs along the wall and snags a handful of

your hair as you pass each other. He yanks you clean off your

feet!"

Julie: "I slash through my own hair with my working claw and roll to

a stop in the doorway. Down on all fours, I roar at the bastard and

leap again!"

You: "The Governor does likewise and you meet in the center of

the room, suspended over the kill zone..."

Whew! That was one filibuster from Mark and at least 6 details

from everyone else. It’s an aggressive round and everyone goes

on the offensive:

Dice Pools

Mark: 6 Yang

Julie: 6 Yang

You: 6 YangRelevant Trait

Mark: Lets enemies defeat themselves 4

Julie: Get revenge on the Governor! 5

You: Kung-Fu Science! 4

Rolls

Mark: 2,2,3,4,6,6

Julie:3,3,5,6,6,6

You: 1,3,4,5,5,6

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Rules Summary

1. The Director creates a Threat (pile of poker chips) orNemesis (opposing character) that the Heroes need to

overcome.

2. Players describe the scene in the present-tense. Everything

happens as the players describe it, when they describe it.

Each detail earns the player 1 die, up to some limit.

3. Players may need to divide their dice into Yin and Yangpools. Yang dice are directed against Threats and Nemeses.

Yin dice are used for self-defense.

4. Each roll is compared to the Hero’s most relevant Trait, a

number from 1–5. Dice that roll over are discarded. The rest

are considered “hits.”

5. Threats score 1 hit per round on each Hero; Nemeses mayscore more. Use Yin hits and Chi tokens to defend. If you

take a hit, you lose.

6. If both sides take a hit, whoever takes the most hits loses.

Ties go to the Heroes. Threats lose 1 chip per hit; they’re out

of the game when they run out of chips.

7. The winner gets a Coup de Grace, where they narrate aresolution to the conflict.

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High-Flying

Heroes

Every wuxia hero needs an excuse to give physics the finger. This

will have a lot to do with the setting you’ve chosen, so sit down

with everyone and discuss the setting, decide on a premise, and

brainstorm characters together. (See Running the Game for more

advice on zero-prep gaming.)

Traditionally, the source of a kung-fu master’s abilities is Qi

cultivation: They’ve trained for years to focus their energies and

survived brutal physical conditioning at the hands of their

iron-willed masters. As a result, they can skip across rooftops andshatter stone with their fists. Specialists can even manipulate other

people’s Qi to cause paralysis, unconsciousness, or death. It has

a lot to do with Taoist ideas like "wu wei;" if you want to adopt a

suitably wuxia mindset, there's no substitute for research.

Or you can just say "they’re vampires" and be done with it. Works

for Hollywood.

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You can write Traits in many ways. Skills like "Gunsmith,"

"Ninjutsu," and "Weaponized Origami" are popular, as are

professions like "Soldier," "Enlightened Master," and "Masked

Vigilante." You can also use broad adjectives, signature quotes,bits of backstory... anything that helps you articulate who this

character is and makes them unique.

Here’s the structure I recommend, particularly for heroes...

Motivation - Why does this character fight? Make it specific, like

"End the False Emperor's Tyranny" or "Keep my Ship Sailing." A

good motivation tells everyone where you want this character’sstory to go and it only kicks in at truly dramatic moments. Give

your motivation a rating of 5, so the character is always at their

best when it counts.

Action! - You’re not a wuxia hero if you’re no good in a fight. It’s

important to put a particular spin on a character’s fighting style,

since all heroes will be equally competent. Classics like "Preying

Mantis Style" and "Buddha’s Palm" are excellent choices, as arebroad schools like "Judo" and "Capoeira." (If you’re stuck, see

below.) At least make sure you cover an action scene niche like

"Parkour," "Speed Demon," or "Kung-Fu Chef." Give your action

trait a rating of 4, so your hero can pull their own weight.

Big Ol’ List of Action Traits

● Crane Style

● Iron Shirt Technique

● Horse Stance

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● Tiger Claw

● Bullet Ballerina

● Dim Mak

● She of the Blood-Soaked Spear● Sixgun Samurai

● Enfightened Master

● Feral Street Fighter

● Inventive Anarchist

● Reluctant Assassin

● Flying Swordsman

● Frying Dutchman● Circus Juggler

● Super Soldier

● Blow It Up!!!

● I Know Kung-Fu

● Telekinesis

● Precog Pugilist

● Hatchetman● Piano Wire Virtuoso

● Subspace Ninja

● Whirling Dervish

● Hundred-Hander

● Monkey Fist

Profession - What does your character do besides fight? Do they

have any notable training, abilities, or talents? This one should be

broad: "Manhunter," "Respected Elder," "Hacker," "Occultist,"

"Eunuch Bureaucrat," "Silver Tongue," "Millionaire," etc. Give your

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sexual misconduct, or (and here’s the tough one) killing. That rules

out about 90% of all actions performed in a typical roleplaying

game. By assigning the players this Weakness, you’ve given them

a mechanical reason to stay in character and find new ways tosolve problems.

In other words, Weaknesses are for making your players do things

the hard way.

Traits on the Fly

Maybe you’ve got a player who just can’t make up their mind, or

maybe your players want to make sure they pick a Profession

that’s going to be relevant to the plot. Maybe your game involves a

group of amnesiacs who wake up in a Mexico City meth lab soaked

in someone else’s blood. For whatever reason, you just don’t want

to write down all your character’s Traits before you start playing.

Fine! Have it your way! Just jot down the three Trait values (5, 4,

3) on a notecard, placing each on its own line. It should looksomething like this:

Blood-Soaked Amnesiac

5 -

4 -

3 -

Now, start playing. Your players can go the whole game without

filling in a single Trait, as long as they don’t mind rolling against 2

(the default Trait rating) all the time. Once that gets old, they’ll have

to start filling in the blanks.

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Amnesiacs are easy (every new skill is as much a surprise to them

as anyone else), but the same trick works with anything. Say

you’re running a traditional wuxia adventure set during the Warring

States period. One of your players can’t decide on a fighting styleuntil she’s ambushed in a tea shop. She writes in "Drunken Master"

as her Action Trait, tosses back a few drinks, and makes with the

monkey fist.

Photo Credit: Manjunath Doddamani Gajendragad (Wikimedia)

Or you could be running a modern occult investigation and one of

your players wants to make sure they pick a useful Profession. Heleaves his "3-" blank until the group finds itself in possession of an

ancient Egyptian spellbook. He jots down "Egyptologist" and says,

"Let me take a crack at that invocation!"

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The only catch is that a Trait cannot be moved or changed once

it’s written down. I highly recommend this method for pick-up

games or any time you just want to hit the ground running.

Point-Allocation Method

If the 5/4/3 method is too confining for you, here’s how to rate your

Traits the old-fashioned way. Just write down your character's

traits, no more than six of them, and default each to a rating of 2.

Now, distribute six points among them; each point increases the

rating by one. i.e. Raising a Trait to "3" costs one point, "4" costs

two points, and "5" costs three points. If anything's still rated 2 when you're done, erase it. That's the default for everything,

anyway.

If you’re working with Weaknesses, give yourself 1 additional point

for each Weakness. I’d cap this at 2 Weaknesses per character,

but season to taste.

There, now you can have a 4/4/4 structure, a 5/5/3/1 structure, oreven a 3/3/3/3/3/3/1 structure. Enjoy!

Character Development

Wushu has no tradition character advancement: no skill

progression, no leveling up, no experience points of any kind. No waiting for weeks to play the character you actually want. With

Wushu, you create exactly the hero you want to play. And then you

play them.

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Even so, all characters naturally develop as you write their history

and establish their relationships. They also change the world

around them, whether it’s by resolving a plot or solving a mystery

or dismantling a web of organized crime that’s been slowlysuffocating their beloved city.

There may be times when a change to a character’s Traits is in

order. Maybe you’re trying to create some kind of Hero’s Journey

or maybe Dr. Feng hit you with the Dim Mak and totally blocked

your chakras. In any case, there are several ways you can handle

this kind of character development...

Shuffling Traits - You should allow your players to change their

Traits between sessions. (If you used the point-allocation method,

let them move those points around on a 1:1 basis.) Most

commonly, their motivations will change as they resolve their

personal subplots. They might also want to try a new kung-fu style

or tweak their profession to match a bit of backstory. As long as

they’re not changing things in the middle of a session, it should befine.

Milestone Traits - To really get Campbellian on their asses, you

should plan out a series of three milestones for any new Trait.

Each time the player meets one of these challenges, or makes a

milestone choice, the Trait increases by one. For example, a hero

trying to master an ancient and cursed weapon might have the

following milestones ahead:

1. Use the weapon to defeat an enemy in combat.

2. Use the weapon to defend an enemy from harm.

3. Use the weapon to prevent a fight you want to win.

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Hong Kong. Source material, both cinematic and semi-historical, is

cited where appropriate.

You may notice that there are way too many Traits in each slot. I

just can’t help myself; I need to give you options. Only have your

players copy down the one they want to use. The Weaknesses are

still optional, so ignore them if they’re not wanted.

The Enlightened Master

You have seen reality’s true face and made it your ally. Whileothers struggle against nature, you go with the flow and let your

enemies defeat themselves. You might be a Taoist who acts

through inaction or a rave kiddie who steps to the beat of the word.

In any case, you’re also highly principled and a paragon of

self-control.

5 - Help others find enlightenment. / Sever your last ties to

samsara.

4 - Wue Wei / Flying Swordsman / Shaolin Kung-Fu / Wudan

Master

3 - Chinese Medicine / Auteur / Right Place, Right Time

1 - Virtuous / No Attachments = No Money

See Also: Li Mu Bai (CTHD), Iron Monkey, Wong Fei-Hung (Jet

Li’s version).

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The Kung-Fu Witch

The masters wouldn’t teach you their secrets, so you stole them.

Maybe it was a powerful kung-fu style or experimental tech from a

super-soldier program. In any case, your power is not entirely

yours. Short-cuts were taken, best guesses made. You filled in the

gaps with tricks of your own and now you’re something unique.

5 - Get revenge on the order that shunned you. / Live free or die.

4 - Striking Snake Style / Dirty Tricks / Kill Reflexes

3 - Thief / Hacker / Runaway

1 - Pride (won’t bow down to anyone)

See Also: The Jade Fox (CTHD).

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The Drunk Monk

You don’t have to be inebriated in order to fight, it just so happens

that you usually are. Whatever you were before, now you’re just a

bum with strong Qi. Maybe you drink to forget your past or maybe

you’re too enlightened to care what other people think. In any

case, you’re in no hurry to climb out of the gutter.

5 - Find something you lost. / Make up for a past mistake.

4 - Drunken Fist / Curiously Strong Chi

3 - Vagrant / Brewmaster

1 - Dirt Poor (a social and economic Weakness)

See also: Beggar So, Wong Fei-Hung (Jackie Chan’s version).

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The Loose Canon

Technically, you’re here to enforce the law. You might be an

imperial magistrate with a quick blade or a hardboiled cop with too

many bullets. In any case, you tend to shoot, stab, or kick first and

forget about asking any questions. Until your superiors tell you

otherwise, the ends justify the means.

5 - Bring a killer to justice. / Clear your name.

4 - Sixgun Samurai / Righteous Fist

3 - Cop / Manhunter / Authority

1 - Until Proven Guilty (duty-bound to protect the innocent)

See also: Chow Yun-Fat (Hardboiled), Liu Jian (KotD).

The Reformed Assassin

Killing is the only thing you’re good at. Now that you’ve quit, killing

is the only way to stay alive. Maybe you fell in love, developed a

conscience, or couldn’t run from the ghosts of your victims any

longer. Your former employers are still on your trail, but you’re

determined to put your talents to good use.

5 - Take down your former employers. / Protect a former target.

4 - Bullet Ballerina / Ninjutsu / Piano Wire Virtuoso

3 - Master of Disguise / Criminal

1 - Most Wanted (your famous face makes life difficult)

See also: Chow Yun-Fat (The Killer, The Replacement Killers.)

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The Half-Breed

You’re not entirely human. Maybe your father was a god or your

mother was bitten by a vampire. It makes you powerful, but it also

alienates you. You can keep one foot in each world, but neither will

ever accept you. Alienation drives you to violence and only the

fact that you murder monsters makes you a hero.

5 - Find the thing that made you... and end them!

4 - Demon Within / Invulnerable / Tooth & Claw

3 - Hunter / Occultist / Runaway

1 - Outcast (all social interactions must be hostile)

See Also: Blade, The Black Mask.

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Running

the Show

This section provides specific advice on how to make the most of

Wushu’s dice mechanics, including more optional rules and

guidelines for zero-prep gaming. Wushu’s a great system for busy

Directors. You can run satisfying one-shots, or even serial

episodes, entirely on the fly. (See also Part III: Terrible Vistas.)

Raising the Stakes

Wherein we discuss advanced techniques and optional rules.

Setting the Threat

How many points of Threat you should assign to a scene depends

on several factors...

● How many players do you have?

More players = more hits per round.

● What are their most relevant Traits?

Higher Traits = more hits per round.

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chips and put them on the table, telling your players that they

represent a boy’s choir composed entirely of orphans. If they want

to save those lives, they’ll have to throw some of their hits against

the side-goal, leaving fewer for your Nemesis to fend off.

In situations like that, feel free to put a time limit on the side goal. If

you only give your players 2 rounds to reach the goal, it means

even more dice diverted.

Photo Credit: David Gordillo (Flickr)

Mono-A-Mono

Speaking of diverted dice, it’s not fair for groups of players to gang

up on a single Nemesis. Rolling more dice than the other guy is a

serious advantage, so your dice pool limits will need some

adjustment when fights aren’t one-on-one.

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There are two ways to go...

If you’re feeling ambitious, let the Nemesis rack up a separate dice

pool for each hero aligned against them. If two players get 6 dice

each, you get a total of 12. Only 6 can be directed against a single

hero, though. Fair is fair. If you’re feeling exhausted, make your

players split a dice pool between them. If the Nemesis gets 6 dice,

two players get 3 dice each. Three players would get 2 dice each.

If that’s not enough, raise the limit a little (you get 8 dice, two

players get 4 dice each).

One on One

I know it means “monkey-to-monkey” in Spanish. The wordplay is

Latin. Stuff it.

Last Mook Standing

If you want to cap off a mook fight with a little something extra,

consider turning the last few points of Threat into Chi for a

Nemesis. Then, you’ll get a chance to roll up your sleeves and

engage your players in a final round of fisticuffs.

Let’s say your heroes are mowing down wuxia thugs in a tea

house (again), but the players come up short and leave 2 points of

Threat on the table after 5 rounds. They’re running low on stunts

and you’re getting bored, so you grab the remaining chips and

declare them Chi for a minor Nemesis. The gang’s enforcer knocks

down the doors with his massive war club!

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You only need to give the enforcer one Trait: the one he’ll be using

to knock your heroes around, something like "Massive War Club

3." (I wouldn’t give the Last Mook Standing anything above 3. He’s

only meant to last a round or two.) You start stunting, which givesyour players something to riff on. The fight proceeds as normal

from there.

A Detail is a Detail

Don’t let my enthusiasm for massive overkill fool you. Wushu’score mechanic can handle any kind of roleplaying challenge,

because it doesn’t discriminate between details. A wire-fu stunt is

not mechanically distinct from a well-executed crossfire or a clever

cross-examination, a frantic flight through dark woods or a bout of

witty wordplay. Consider these examples...

Tactical Combat

If you can convince the group that your selection of firearm, angle

of attack, or dirty trick would provide a tactical advantage, it’s

worth a die. No need to compare or quantify. A detail is a detail.

Lauren: "We use shaped explosives to breach the front door and

toss flashbangs inside. I crouch and swing in around the corner,

covering the left side of the room, while my partner comes in

behind me and covers the main area."

You: "The thugs in the main room don’t put up much of a fight, being

temporarily blind and deaf, but the ones guarding the hostages

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quickly barricade themselves in the back room. One waits a few

seconds for you to approach, then fires wildly through the door."

Photo Credit: Matthew G. Bisanz (Wikimedia)

Lauren: "Bullet impacts knock me off my feet, but my kevlar vest is

more than enough to stop their low-rent rounds. I return fire with

three-round bursts of high-velocity, armor-piercing ammo."

That’s easily worth six dice of gritty, tactical action, and you didn’t

even have to pause when the door was knocked down.

Investigation

Most leads don’t pan out, but they’re all worth dice. Fingerprints,

fluorescent lights, bank accounts, interrogations, they’re all equal in

the eyes of Wushu. As long as your players roll at least one

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success, and were barking up remotely the right tree, you should

reveal whatever clues you’ve got up your sleeve.

Jeremy: "First, I separate the suspects and run the old prisoner’s

dilemma on their asses. When one inevitably turns on the other, I

put them both on ice and head out to verify their story."

You: "Fair enough. The husband confesses, says he forced his

wife to help him dispose of the body, but that’s all."

Jeremy: "If that’s true, there should still be gunpowder residue on

his clothes or hands. We swab his nails and send all his

confiscated clothes to the lab."

That’s at least 4 dice of solid police work. You let ‘em roll and

Jeremy nabs the 1 requisite success.

You: "Nothing. There’s no way this guy fired a gun recently. He’s

trying to protect his homicidal hausfrau."

HorrorThe tricky thing about fear is that it requires protagonists who are

less powerful than their opposition, quite the opposite of Wushu’s

default mode. That doesn’t mean you have to hamstring your

players, though. Everyone should delight in harrowing the heroes.

Julie: "Well, somebody has to go into the basement and check the

fuses! I find a flashlight and tip-toe down the stairs, each stepcreaking like the screech of a bat. Shadows leap across the room

as I cast my feeble light around."

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You: "A cat pops out from beneath the stairs! You scream and drop

the flashlight. It rolls to a stop and reveals a tiny, crouched figure in

the back corner..."

Julie: "Holy shit! I stare at it in disbelief for a few seconds, just until

it shifts a little and I’m sure it’s alive. Then, I run screaming from

the basement!"

You: "Something gets a fistful of your hair right before you reach

the door and yanks you back down into the darkness..."

Just make sure everyone understands the stakes. Julie isn’t trying

to defeat the creature in the basement, just escape from it (and

maybe change those fuses).

Photo Credit: David Sagarin (Wikimedia)

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Romantic Comedy

I can’t say I’ve ever tried this one, but it’s sound in theory. The

stakes in an emotional conflict might be getting a phone number,

controlling your temper, or embarrassing yourself in public. In any

case, a detail is a detail.

You: "Okay, she’s sitting at the bar with a friend. This is your

chance to get her number, big shooter. Wadaya do?"

Mark: "I walk up to her friend and say, 'Hi. I’m thinking of hitting on

your extremely attractive friend,' I say, gesturing over my shoulder.

'How do you think I should go about it?'"

You: "The friend looks at you like something she found in the back

of the fridge and says, 'She’s standing right behind you, dumbass.'"

Mark: "'Oh, right.' I turn around to face the girl and say, 'Hi. I’m

thinking of hitting on you. How do you think I should go about it?'"

You: "Well-played, sir. She laughs and introduces herself, butclaims to only have a few minutes. 'I’m just waiting for my boyfriend

to get off work. He’s the bouncer.'"

Mark: "'Well, then it looks like I only have a few minutes left to live.

How do you think I should spend them?'"

You: "'Don’t most people say, 'Have a crazy orgy?'"

Mark: "'I think that's if everyone only has a few minutes to live.'"

You: '"Right. You could hit on a girl who’s way out of your league.'"

Mark: "'I’ll let you know how it turns out.'"

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Zero-Prep Gaming

Busy people deserve gaming, too. Wushu makes it easy to run

one-shots on the fly. Just show up to the table with a setting ideaand a few friends. You can have heroes, nemeses, and a plot

outline put together in thirty minutes or less.

Step the First: Pick a Premise

Everything that comes after will be easier if everyone agrees on

what kind of game you’re sitting down to play. Action, probably, but

the action oeuvre is a long and diverse buffet: traditional wuxia,martial arts epic, steampunk, Hong Kong bullet ballet, spy thriller,

comic book supers, sci-fi actioner, and on and on.

The easiest way to align expectations is to reference a movie

everyone has seen. If you’re gaming with real action aficionados,

pick a couple and mix their tropes together or use one genre to put

a twist on another. I like to navigate by directors; a Yuen

Woo-Ping game is very different from a John Woo game, but

Wushu handles them both with equal aplomb.

Part III: Terrible Vistas provides three settings tailor-made for

zero-prep gaming. If you bring one of them to the table, it should

only take a few minutes to give your players a tour.

This step isn’t just about setting, though. You also need to decide

on a premise: What will your heroes be doing? Are they fighting a

cabal of evil eunuchs, waging a bullet-ridden war against crime,

pillaging the high seas, dismantling an army of cyborg zombies, or

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just getting revenge on a hated foe? Starting with a coherent

premise makes for more cohesive heroes.

Say you’ve just sat down to play some Clockwork Wuxia. You tell

your players, "It’s a steampunk wuxia alternate 1700s where the

Ming Dynasty is the world’s great colonial power." They’re all

onboard. You give them the option of playing pirates or American

freedom fighters. They pick pirates and they want to be on the run

from the Dynasty’s most-feared enforcer. Step one: Done.

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Step the Second: Who Are the Heroes?

Having just picked a premise, you should already have some idea

of who your heroes are and what they do. Now comes the part

where you grab a note card and write down some Traits. If this

takes more than ten minutes, consider using the sample heroes or

creating Traits on the fly.

Pro Tip: Try to make sure each character has a motivation that’s

directly tied to the premise, but don’t duplicate. Having characters

with subtly conflicting goals adds depth to their interactions. In the

example above, you could suggest the following motivations:

● Protect your ship and your crew!

● Give me freedom or give me death!

● Take what you can, give nothing back!

As long as they can stay one step ahead of their pursuers, there’s

little conflict between these motivations. Once they have to start

choosing between their fellows and their own freedom, things willget interesting. However, none of them are in direct opposition and

you could play out the whole scenario without any internal

conflicts, if that’s the way you roll.

Next, make sure everyone’s got a distinct fighting style and your

heroes are good to go.

Clockwork Wuxia comes with some suggested heroes: CyborgSwordsman, Kung-Fu Scientist, and Zen Psychologist. Your

players each pick one of the three, jot down motivations and

fighting styles, and decide to leave their third Traits blank for now.

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Step the Third: Brainstorm Scenes & Nemeses

When improvising a session, the Director cannot be solely

responsible for the plot. Take a few minutes to talk about the kinds

of things you all want to do in the next few hours: types of

challenges, fight locations, nemeses, mooks, etc. It shouldn’t take

long for an outline to emerge.

Your steampunk pirates want to commit some actual piracy, charge

through a naval blockade, cross swords with shaolin cyborgs, and

duel their nemesis in the burning rigging of his flagship. Sounds like

a rich, full evening. You jot all those things down on a sheet ofpaper, whip up a Trait or two for their nemesis, and you’re ready to

rock.

Don’t spend more than a few minutes on this. It’s often best to

charge headlong into your session with no real plan, just an idea of

where to start (e.g. attacking and boarding a tramp steamer on the

high seas) and where you want to end up (e.g. committing acts of

arson and aggravated assault on the Ming dynasty’s naval

flagship). Connecting the dots will be a breeze, because your

players will help you do it.

Plan on 3–4 big set pieces per 4 hours of game. If you run low on

time, cut to the chase.

Step the Last: Go Play!

When you’re running a one-shot, you don’t have time to waste

making travel arrangements, browsing the local market, or rolling

for random encounters. Frame each scene aggressively.

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Drop your players into a situation that demands a response. You

can figure out how they got into it later. This isn’t a blank check for

non-sequiturs, I’m just telling you not to waste time worrying about

it if no one’s worried about it. For example…

You: "You’re gaining fast on the Salty Mare, a huge merchant

freighter. They’re not supposed to be armed, but you can plainly

see a concealed port open up in her stern as a clap of thunder

peals out over the waves. The cannonball whistles past your

foredeck, either a miss or a warning shot. Care to respond?"

Photo Credit: Robert Cutts (Flickr)

Why are they chasing the Salty Mare? Because they wanted to

board and pillage a ship on the high seas! Do they have any

history with the freighter or its crew? If your players think it’s

interesting, they’re free to invent some! Don’t be afraid to break

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character and discuss these things during the game. Table talk isn’t

just allowed during a Wushu session, it’s mandatory.

Once the conflict is resolved, cut to the next scene. If you’re not

sure which scene that is, ask your players for input. In our

example, we know that Shaolin cyborgs and a naval blockade need

to precede the finale. Maybe your heroes have to run that

blockade in order to make port and sell their ill-gotten gains, which

would be a good place to cross swords with cyber-monks.

You: "Having gutted the Salty Mare, you set sail for an Indonesian

pirate den. Unfortunately, the Chinese have established a blockadearound the string of tiny islands. The crew have no stomach for

further delays, so it looks like you’ll have to make a run for it!" You

put a stack of chips on the table, representing the Threat of being

captured or sunk by the blockade, and tell your players to start

hatching a plan.

Be willing to give up on a scene if it’s played out, even when the

game mechanics say otherwise. When this happens, it’s usuallybecause you put too many points on a Threat or everyone’s just

running out of steam.

Your blockade run has gone a few rounds, but the players rolled

poorly and there are still chips on the table. You decide that the

pursuing vessels are suddenly called back to the line, allowing the

pirates to escape more or less unscathed... because a team of

Shaolin cyborgs have already snuck aboard to infiltrate the pirate

fortress!

It’s exactly that easy.

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Asynchronous Play

If you’re playing Wushu online, via a forum or a wiki, aggressive

scene framing is even more important. You have to keep the pace

blistering; the moment you lose your players’ interest, game over.

Most online games die with a whimper.

I once ran a Play-by-Post (PbP) game set in The Matrix. Each

scene began at the end of a mission, when something had already

gone wrong and Agents started showing up. As soon as the last

free mind disconnected, we moved on to the next scene. Weskipped all the set-up and connected each scene with the barest

threads of backstory. I’m proud to say that game ran at a brisk

pace all the way through to a suitably climactic end.

You can also keep things moving by encouraging players to

filibuster. If they can earn all their dice in a single post, you reduce

the wait time between rounds. Less waiting means fewer chances

for players to drop offline or lose track of the narrative. You don’t

get those furious back-and-forth exchanges, but you can still use

Passes to weave things together.

My last bit of advice is to handle all the rolls yourself; don’t make

the player report their own rolls. Again, it means less waiting

because you can count up the dice, roll the results, and do the

bookkeeping all at once. Post the new Chi and Threat counts andyou’re ready for the next round. Lather, rinse, repeat.

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with the diamonds. Put a stack of Threat tokens on the table and

let the festivities commence.

You’ve already established several facts that will need to be

explained: the bikers, the rental car, the diamonds, and being on

the freeway. Write each of those down on a piece of paper and

leave it in the middle of the table. If your players want to invent a

few facts of their own, write those down, too.

Photo Credit: freestock (Wikimedia)

After a few rounds, or at some dramatic moment, pause the action

and flash back to the beginning of your plot. In our example, you

could reveal that someone’s locked in the rental car’s trunk or

introduce a Nemesis in the form of a helicopter gunship. Make anote of how much Chi each of your heroes has remaining and then

cut to "1 hour earlier..."

Now that your players have something to work toward, the plot

should be an easy sell. When you mention a thieving biker gang,

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they’ll perk up their ears. When you dangle a rental car in front of

them, they’ll jump on it. Each time they do something like this, you

get one step closer to the flashbang and they get one more bonus

die in their pool.

When you finally catch up to your opening scene, flash through the

rounds of action you’ve already played. Remind everyone of where

they ended up, what they were doing, and how much Chi they had

left. Then, dive back into the action, but now the players can start

using those bonus dice. If they were in over their heads before,

this should even things up.

Flashbang dice don’t have to be earned with a detail; players can

just grab one or more when it’s time to roll. Each die can only be

used once, but they allow players to exceed the dice pool limit for

the scene. This is aserious advantage.

Say our example flashbang ended with the arrival of a helicopter

gunship. After a quick recap, the players begin a new round. The

driver jumps their rental car off a construction sign, to lose the lastof the bikers, and two of the other heroes leap onto the helicopter.

Everybody takes one or two dice out of the shared pool and rolls

them with their normal dice.

If there are any flashbang dice left in the pool after the conflict is

resolved, the players can continue to use them as they please.

You shouldn’t let these pools get ridiculously huge, however. Six to

ten dice are more than enough for a group of 3–5 players.

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Devil’s Dice

When you want power with a price, reach for the Devil’s dice. Use

this mechanic for volatile powers, dangerous magic, unstablesuper-weapons, or anything else that might blow up in a player’s

face.

Give the player in question a pool of bonus dice to keep in front of

them. Four to six dice should be plenty. Any time they use their

power/magic/super science device, they can grab as many of

these bonus dice as they like, even exceeding the normal dice pool

limit.

Here’s the catch: They may have to roll a "self-control check" with

the unused dice. (Unless the hero has a dedicated "Self-Control"

Trait, roll against the default 2.) If they fail the roll, the figurative

feces hit the proverbial fan. That could mean their powers get out

of hand or their magic has unintended side effects or their

high-tech doodad literally blows up in their face.Either the Director or the player may decide what happens, but it

really should cause some kind of undesirable complications for the

hero.

Say you’re a werewolf who doesn’t subscribe to that "full moon"

nonsense; you can draw on your feral side to boost your strength,

fortitude, senses, whatever any time you want. Use too much,

however, and the wolf takes over completely. Devil's dice are

perfect for this.

You give the lycanthrope a pool of 5 bonus dice. In one scene,

they need to track a fugitive's scent. They earn a few dice

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describing how they focus their senses, reach down into the dark

abyss of their soul, and pull up just a tiny bit of the beast. The

player adds 2 bonus dice to their roll and gets plenty of hits.

Then, you have them roll the remaining 3 dice as a self-control

check. Their hero doesn’t have a dedicated "Self-Control" Trait, so

they’re trying to roll 2 or lower. They get 5,4,2... and keep it under

control. One hit is all they need.

Later, the lycanthrope is running down that same fugitive. They

narrate a chase sequence in which they partially transform,

galloping on all fours. They add 4 of their bonus dice to the roll andget more than enough hits to take out the nemesis... but that only

leaves 1 die for their self-control check. Not good odds. They roll a

3 (failure!) and transform completely.

Now, the other players have to save the fugitive from a ravenous

hellhound without (one would hope) killing the friend within.

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Cut-Fu

Cut-Fu is about kicking unholy ass with anything that chops, slices,

or stabs. It’s about cutting the cardinal’s men to ribbons with a bow

and a flourish! It’s about swinging from the rigging of your pirate

ship while turning aside the blades of imperial soldiers. It’s about

dispatching your old nemesis with a single, lightning stroke.

The first section of this Wushu guide covers the essentials: types

of blades, basic fencing maneuvers, and cinematic stunts. Next, I’ll

show you how to run one-on-one duels with the Wushu system, for

all your Nemesis-slaughtering needs. Then, I’ll give you plenty of

reasons to bring knives to gunfights, so you can incorporate blades

into modern and sci-fi games. Finally, you’ll get to see Cut-Fu in

action via some extended examples of play.

Soon, you’ll be a whirling dervish of steel and blood!

Sword Fights

Wushu treats all weapons the same as far as tactical issues like

damage, reach, and speed are concerned. That leaves you free tochoose the weapon that best fits your character. To do that,

though, you have to know how various types of bladed weapons

are meant to be used...

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Knives & Daggers

These tiny terrors are as varied and numerous as all of their big

brothers combined. They range from pocket-sized utility knives to

massive bowie knives to slim sleeve daggers. Modern knife fighting

techniques teach you to hold the blade forward, like you would a

steak knife, and attack with quick jabs and slashes. Medieval

techniques used an underhand grip, usually to stab downward

through the ribcage and into the heart. You can also use a dagger

with a long sword, as an off-hand parrying weapon, and they’re

easy to throw.

Short Blades

There’s no clear line between a dagger and a short sword, but the

latter tend to look more like swords. The Japanese wakizashi is an

excellent example, as is the Roman gladius. They are faster than

their larger cousins, meant for quick thrusts and slashes. They are

also easier to conceal in a coat or gym bag. Their primary

disadvantage is lack of reach; an opponent with a long sword can

hit you before you get close enough to hit them.

Slashy Blades

Most of your traditional swords (broad swords, katanas, sabers,

etc.) fall into this category. They’re good at stabbing and parrying,

but their weight and length make them best for slashing attacks.

They can hack off limbs, split open abdomens, and lop off heads

with relative ease.

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Stabby Blades

During the Renaissance, long swords became lighter and faster,

like modern fencing foils. Rapiers are lightning quick, but lack the

mass for slashing or chopping attacks. Instead, they channel their

force into the tip, which can deliver extraordinarily precise thrusts

to vital areas. They are archetypal dueling weapons.

Choppy Blades

Heavy blades like axes and machetes are far too slow to provide

any kind of defense. Instead, they must be wielded with such

aggression that your enemy has no opportunity to attack.

Screaming like a madman never hurts, either.

Wacky Blades

In the Middle Ages, most soldiers carried polearms; these

spear-like weapons could keep swordsmen at a safe distance and

even take out knights on horseback. There are countless martial

arts weapons with blades of one type or another: the hook swords

seen in CTHD, the sickle-like kama, and so on. Oh, and don’t forget

the scythe, official melee weapon of the grim reaper!

Fencing 101

In a Wushu game, the key to victory is creative and exciting

narration. To describe a sword fight well, you need to know the

basic vocabulary. This is not meant as a technical glossary, only

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as a way to give you terms more colorful than “attack” and

“defend.”

Thrust

A direct, stabbing attack. A long-distance thrust is usually called a

“lunge.” This is the most efficient form of attack for most sword

types. The key to embellishing a thrust is in the peripheral details:

your target (hand, heart, leg, eye), the speed of the attack, your

footwork, the way the sun glints off your blade, and so forth.

Slash

I use this as a general term for any swinging attack. You can make

long, slow slashes to sever limbs, quick slashes designed to exploit

momentary weaknesses, and fancy-looking, spinning slashes that

resemble dance moves more than combat. As with a thrust, the key

is in the peripheral details.

Parry

Any move that blocks an incoming attack. This is usually done with

your own sword, but there are other options. Shields are always

popular, from tiny bucklers to the full-body shields preferred by the

Romans. You can also parry with a weapon in your off-hand,

usually a dagger. There are even fencing techniques that use a

cape or coat in the off-hand to parry attacks and blind opponents.

Feint

A fencer is always most vulnerable once they’ve committed to a

move, whether in offense or defense. A feint is a fake attack

designed to get your enemy to commit to a particular defense,

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Photo Credit: Buster Brown

Duels

Sword duels between masters of equal skill (like a hero and a

Nemesis) have a style all their own. Understanding that style, and

how to recreate it using Wushu, is essential to running truly

climactic duels.

Pacing

The spotlight is held on one character at a time during most Wushu

rounds, but a sword duel requires much faster back-and-forth

between combatants. Each side (usually a player and the Director)

should limit themselves to 1-2 details at a time. That’s enough to

describe most feints, ripostes, and other maneuvers. You may

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need to increase the maximum dice pool so you don’t have to roll

as often.

The Duel Is In the Mind

It is said that two masters can fight an entire duel without ever

drawing their swords. If you’re familiar with the principle of the

psych-out, you’re half way there. You can spend the entire first

round of a duel just circling your opponent, measuring their skill,

and/or intimidating them into submission. For a more artisticapproach, you could fight a “shadow” round that takes place in the

characters’ minds. (See “Hero” for the quintessential example.)

Advantage, Not Injury

A good duel can go on for quite some time without either side

scoring a solid hit, but that’s not to say no one’s winning in the

meantime. In a duel, the first few hits on each character should beconsidered losses of tactical advantage, not necessarily wounds.

The attacker has moved into a better position, pushed their

opponent into a worse position, put them in a lock, disarmed them,

whatever. The victim then spends Chi just to stay in the fight, not to

negate the lock or keep their weapon.

Witty Repartee

Most duels are not just about physical confrontation. At their core

is some deeper conflict between the characters themselves,

perhaps a philosophical difference or personal rivalry. The

resolution of the duel should reflect the resolution of this conflict,

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and the way you do that is through dialogue (which earns dice,

naturally). Usually, the dialogue goes something like this:

1. Villain taunts hero into making the first attack, then counters.

2. Hero defends himself, then refutes the villain’s position.

3. Villain tells Hero why they are wrong, and either gains the

upper hand or makes a fatal mistake.

4. Hero sums up their position in a snappy sound bite, then

delivers the coup de grace!

Bringing Knives to Gunfights

Okay, so swords are cool. We can all agree on that. But there’s a

reason that modern soldiers don’t use them: they’re no good

against guns. Fortunately, the role-playing milieu allows us to take

certain liberties with tactical reality. If you want to use blades in a

setting dominated by guns, just pick your favorite excuse...

You Can Dodge Bullets!

Bullets are tiny and only threaten a particular point in space for a

fraction of a second. Characters with preternatural reflexes have

no trouble ducking or sidestepping them. In fact, most handguns

and SMGs are inaccurate enough that your average mook won’t be

able to hit a normal person at a distance... as long as they keep

moving. (Just ask John Woo.) Even trained shooters will have a

hard time drawing and firing at a target who’s within a few dozen

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feet. Rush them and get in close enough that they can’t bring their

gun to bear, then cut ‘em up!

You Can Block Bullets!

Think of this one as the Jedi Principle. Bullets have very little

mass, so it’s easy to knock them out of the air with a decent sword

blade, provided you have the reflexes, precognition, or

cybernetically-augmented senses to pull it off. Kevlar armor also

does an excellent job of blocking bullets, but a good knife (or

arrowhead) will slice through it like silk sheets.

Hey, That Tickles!

Most gunshot deaths are caused by shock, not blood loss or any

kind of catastrophic injury. In the genres most beloved by

role-players, many hostile entities are not so easy to put down. On

the other hand, even a regenerating soldier, walking corpse, or

killer cyborg will be averse to losing an arm, an intestine, or their

head. Again, possessing such a power will also make players lessafraid of firearms, freeing them up to rely on their trusty axe or

rapier.

Bullets Are Expensive!

Okay, they’re pretty damn cheap in most settings, but your

average post-apocalypse is quite another story! You can also

artificially limit access to ammunition during an adventure bytrapping your heroes in a remote wilderness, or just not giving them

any spare clips. When bullets become a commodity, a weapon that

works as long as you have the strength to swing it starts to look

better and better.

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Bullets Are Traceable!

Modern forensics can match a bullet to a gun based merely on the

pattern of scratches the latter leaves on the former. In sci-fi

settings, ballistics might be even more traceable, and/or tightly

regulated by the government. Assuming your characters are

engaged in some manner of illicit activity (gasp!), they might opt for

more discreet weaponry.

No Mojo for Bullets!

A key difference between bullets and blades is that the former does

its work when beyond the user’s immediate control, both physically

and mystically. The sword is an extension of the self, and therefore

an extension of its wielder’s will. Got superhuman speed? So does

your sword. Know how to channel lightning? Steel is notoriously

conductive. Bullets pale in comparison.

Bad Mojo for Bullets!

Conversely, bullets may also be easier for your adversaries to

work their mojo on. Telekinetics will have a much easier time

turning away bullets than wrestling away your broadsword. A gun’s

inner workings are easily sabotaged by magic, but steel never

misfires.

Why Decide?

Blades and bullets... two great tastes that taste deadly together!

Even if one of the above excuses is in effect, there are many ways

to use a gun and a sword in tandem. First, you could use the sword

as a parrying weapon against bullets, as described above.

Second, you could save the gun as a hold-out weapon, either

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Swashing Your Buckle

(or Buckling Your Swash)

While the crew of the Kraken is ashore, burying their booty, an

Imperial boarding party draws alongside the ship. It’s up to the

cook and the cabin boy to repel the scurvy invaders! The cabin boy

rushes into the hold to grab his cutlass and pistol, while the cook

retrieves his favorite weapons from the galley: a pair of enormous

cleavers. By the time they’ve armed themselves, the Imperials are

climbing onto the deck!

The Cabin Boy (Spunky 4) sails up from the cargo hold, pulled

skyward by a severed cargo line. He fires his pistol at the closest

Imperial and screams the wild battle cry of his Gurkha ancestors

as he zips up into the rigging. (5 dice)

This boarding party is just the appetizer before the game’s main

course (an all-out assault by the Imperial battleship), so you givethem a mild Threat of 15. The Cabin Boy rolls 4 dice for attack and

keeps one for defense, getting 3 Yang hit and 1 Yin hit. He suffers

no gunshot wounds for his daring stunt and knocks the mooks’

Threat Rating down to 12.

Now that the Imperials are out of ammo, the Cook (Slice & Dice 4)

wades into battle, swinging his twin meat cleavers with abandon!He hacks off a mook’s sword hand, rendering him helpless, and

knocks another over the side with a well-placed kick. Quickly, he

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blocks a pair of sword thrusts on his left flank and yells, “You look

like a meaty one! I’d love to have you for dinner!” (6 dice)

The Cook maxes out his dice pool at 6. He chooses to roll 5 Yang

and 1 Yin, getting 4 Yang hits, but no Yin. Not being used to this

kind of exertion, he loses a point of Chi. However, he also brings

the mooks’ Threat Rating down to 8.

The Cabin Boy sees his friend faltering and rushes to the rescue!

He cuts loose some of the rigging and swings down into the fray,claiming a powdered wig (and the head beneath it) with his cutlass.

He lets go of the rope and does a quick back flip before landing on

the deck. He grabs his pistol by the barrel and uses the grip to

parry a vicious swing, then runs the brigand through! (6 dice)

Still on the offensive, the Cabin Boy rolls just one Yin die and the

other 5 for attack, getting 1 Yin hit and 4 Yang hits. He loses noChi to the mooks and drops their Threat to a rapidly fading 4.

The Cook has had just about enough of these salty wankers! He

goads one of the two remaining mooks into a foolish attack by

juggling his butcher knives, appearing to leave himself undefended.

When the mook lunges forward, the cook steps to the side and lets

the mook stab his comrade (who is fighting the Cabin Boy behind

him) right in the spine! Then, the Cook snatches one of his

cleavers out of the air and buries it in the clumsy oaf’s neck. (6

dice)

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tiered roofs, well out of harm’s way. (2 dice) Her enemy snarls in

frustration and follows her skyward. (2 dice)

That’s a whole lotta dice! Both characters earned a total of 9. Zi

takes a balanced stance, rolling 5 Yang and 4 Yin. The Black

Heron is on the war path, so you devote 7 dice to attack and roll

just 2 Yin. Zi gets 4 Yang hits against the Black Heron’s 2 Yin, so

he cashes in 2 of his 3 Chi. However, you roll a much more

impressive 6 Yang hits against Zi’s 3 Yin, wiping out her Chi in the

first round! In this instance, that means that Zi has been driven

onto the defensive; the Black Heron is intimidating her.

Now atop the roof, Zi slips into “Lunatic’s Revenge,” a wildly

offensive stance. (2 dice) Her nemesis adopts the “Wu Shan’s

Relentless Onslaught.” (1 die) Zi swings wide, striking at his left

flank. (1 die) When he moves to parry, (1 die) Zi drops her

weapon, grabs his sword arm, and twists the blade into hisabdomen. (3 dice) He bellows in agony, pulls a concealed knife

from the hilt of his sword, and stabs Zi in the chest, driving towards

her heart. (4 dice)

The evenly-matched combatants, both near the end of their Chi,

know victory will be a matter of chance. So, they each hedge their

bets by rolling 3 Yang dice and 3 Yin dice. It all comes down to theroll: Zi gets 3 Yang hits for her spectacular feint, but only 2 Yin hits.

The Black Heron slips up with 2 Yang hits, not enough to get

through Zi’s defenses. You roll only 1 Yin hit, reducing him to -1

Chi. Zi has turned the tables by exploiting her adversary’s

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over-confidence. Now, she gets to narrate a coup de grace...

Back in the real world, Zi glimpses defeat in her enemy’s eyes.

She springs forward like a striking snake, whips her katana from its

sheath, and slices his neck open. Arterial blood sprays behind her

like a crimson fan. Her blade is back in its scabbard before his

body hits the ground.

Photo Credit: Rudiger Wolk (Wikimedia)

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Defending a Lady’s Honor

The Earl of Saint Nazine (Duelist 4) has suffered a most egregious

insult at the hands of a Spaniard (Swordsman 5). The blackguardhad the gall to say, in public, that the Earl’s female companion had

an “inviting smile.” Well, you can imagine the Earl’s outrage at such

a vulgar insinuation! Why, the mere idea was so ghastly that the

Earl drew his saber on the scoundrel right then and there.

However, as dueling is forbidden within city limits (by the Earl’s

own decree), he had to settle for the Spaniard’s promise to meet

him outside the city gates at sunset. Now is the appointed hour...

“So,” the Earl says as the Spaniard arrives, “you are a man of your

word, after all. I would have thought you’d be aboard the fastest

ship in the harbor.” (1 die)

“And I would have thought a man with such a beautiful woman on

his arm would spend his evenings in bed” replies the Spaniard. (1

die)“I shall cut that foul tongue from its moorings!” The Earl draws his

saber and lunges forward. (2 dice) The Spaniard parries with his

rapier, then draws a dagger and slashes at the Earl’s throat. (2

dice) Ducking under the riposte, the Earl spins around, getting

close enough to smell his adversary’s fetid breath, and delivers a

punishing elbow smash to his face. (4 dice) The Spaniard

disengages with a quick step back and removes the Earl’spowdered wig with the tip of his sword. “Bald. I thought so.” (3 dice)

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That’s a pretty good opening bout. The Earl gets a total of 7 dice;

he chooses to roll 4 of them in offense and 3 in defense. You take

the Spaniard’s 6 dice and splits them evenly between Yin andYang. The Earl rolls 3 Yang hits and 2 Yin hits, while you get 3 of

each. The Spaniard is just getting warmed up, but the Earl must

cash in one of his Chi to make up the difference. His anger has

plainly put him at a disadvantage.

The Earl, his bald head flushed with rage, rushes forward and

swings savagely for the Spaniard’s left leg. (2 dice) The Spaniard

moves his parrying dagger to block, (1 die) but it was a feint! The

Earl’s saber has already pivoted up to strike at the Spaniard’s

head! (1 die) He is forced to parry with his rapier, stopping the

saber just inches from the tip of his nose. (2 dice) The Earl leans

hard on his weapon, driving it through the block. (2 dice) The

Spaniard whips his parrying dagger up from its lowered position,

slides it into the saber’s crossguard, and rips the sword out of the

Earl’s grasp. (3 dice) This time, it’s the Earl’s turn to retreat. (1 die)

The Earl was definitely on the offensive this round, so he rolls 4

Yang dice and 2 Yin dice. Once again, the Spaniard splits his 6

dice evenly. This time, you roll a couple of sixes, resulting in 2

Yang hits and 2 Yin hits. The Earl rolls lucky on all 4 Yang dice,and 1 of two his Yin. The Director gives up 2 of the Spaniard’s 3

Chi, and the Earl loses one more of his, leaving both characters

with a single point.

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“Rendered impotent, once again,” the Spaniard gloats. (1 die) The

Earl pulls a knife from his belt and charges. (1 die) The Spaniard

intercepts this wild attack with the point of his rapier by stabbing

the Earl’s sword arm. (2 dice) Pain flows into the Earl’s mind,clearing it. He leans into the sword thrust, pushing the rapier clean

through his forearm and trapping it between his ulna and radius. (4

dice) The Spaniard brings his dagger to bear, (1 die) but the Earl

impales his off-hand on its blade and twists it up against the

Spaniard’s throat. (2 dice)

You are so impressed with the Earl’s mettle that you calls the

round then and there. The Spaniard only gets 4 dice, which you

split evenly once again. The Earl takes his 7 dice and rolls 5 Yang

and 2 Yin. He gets an impressive 4 Yang hits and 1 Yin hit. All of

your dice turn up hits, but it’s not enough to save the Spaniard. The

Earl loses his last point of Chi, but the Spaniard loses 2, dropping

him to -1. Now, the Earl gets to execute his coup de grace...

The Spaniard struggles, but cannot liberate his blades from the

Earl’s body. He begs for mercy. “You can only push a gentleman

so far,” replies the Earl. “Let this serve as a reminder.” He drags

the dagger up the Spaniard’s cheek, drawing a ragged line from

chin to temple. Then, he rides back to his mansion and the virtuous

woman who awaits him there.

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Butchering Gunbunnies

Three super-powered vigilantes find themselves under siege! Their

nemesis, the insidious Doctor Fang, has tipped off the cops as totheir hideout. A small army of kevlar-coated SWAT guys surrounds

the derelict warehouse, seals off the exits, and fills the place with a

hail of hot lead!

The Reaper (Bringer of Death 5) just walks towards the nearest

mob of goons, letting their bullets tear through his regenerating

flesh. He drinks in their sweet, sweet fear as he raises his scythe

and lops off three consecutive heads. (5 dice)

The Blind Man (Perfect Aim 5) runs through the gunfire, knocking

bullets out of the air with his wakizashi. His scarlet blindfold trails

behind him like a parade streamer as he draws a desert eagle and

plugs a dozen bullets into a dozen unarmored necks. (5 dice)

The Savage (Hunter 5) leaps into the rafters above, dodging a

stream of bullets as he disappears into the shadows. Momentslater, his twin machetes hurtle out of the darkness and cleave both

the kevlar and sternums of two mooks. The Savage’s victorious

howl echoes through the warehouse. (5 dice)

Everybody gets 5 dice this round. You give the SWAT mooks a

Threat Rating of 30, because you wants this to be a showcase

fight. The Reaper is an unholy bad ass, so he rolls 4 Yang dice and

just a single Yin; he gets 4 successful attacks, but his Yin die

comes up a failure. Apparently, even the undead should fear a solid

wall of bullets! He cashes in a point of Chi. The Blind Man and the

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Savage both roll 4 Yin and 1 Yang; they both get their obligatory 1

Yin success, plus a total of 7 Yang hits. That’s a grand total of 11

hits, dropping the mooks’ Threat Rating to 19.

The Reaper lets the next rank pepper him with bullets until they run

out of ammo. Then, he chops one off at the knees and continues

his swing up into the skull of the neighboring mook. He pulls back

the hood of his b

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